Peak Above The Nubble

Last Sunday I soloed the PATN, I began at the well-known three boulders off the Haystack Road and entered the woods at the intersection of the second brook beyond the sand pit - I bushwhacked along that brook pretty much until I got to a short old lumber road that led to a former "clearing", now very overgrown. From there I bushwhacked in a southwesterly direction to a stand of spruce, thence in a generally south direction to about the 3,200 foot contour; from there I headed southwesterly again and at around 3,500 feet I found a "herd path" that kind of led to the summit. The entire round-rip took me almost 12 hours - of course you must understand that I'm 77 years old. I am a member of the AMC WM4000 and the NE4000 clubs - so far, I've completed six of the NE100. BTW, I'm looking for a hiking companion to do Vose Spur and West Scar Ridge with - age is not important, just patience.

Nice! PATN doesn't seem that long distance-wise, but I'm sure the fact that's it's mostly a bushwhack makes the going slower.

This one has been on my radar for quite some time. I probably won't get to it until after I finish the 48, but for some reason it intrigues me. I'll refer to this when and if I do hike/'whack it.

You can whack it if you choose, but there is a herd path all the way to the top. For whatever reason, it is not a very straight line, so the mileage is much longer if you take it. We basically whacked up and took the herd path back down.

Thank you for the info!

When you get ready to hike it, just send me a quick note and I will be more than happy to send you my route coordinates.

I'll be redoing Vose Spur and Scar but not sure when. Post when you're going.

I'm pretty flexible so let me know when you are ready to go and I'll make every effort to work around your schedule.

I'm planning to hike Mt. Nancy tomorrow and can be available to do Vose Spur anytime next week except Saturday - let me know your schedule. Thanks.

I would love to be a NEHH partner! I don't have a GPS, but I have a lot of positive thoughts and have lots of patience

I have hiked all the trailed NEHH in New Hampshire, but haven't done any of the trailless ones (PATN, Nancy, Scaur Ridge, Vose Spur)

I would hike them more but no one else has weekdays off, and I prefer if someone else drives because my car is old as dirt. (I pay for gas tho!)

Tom, that herd path isn’t the one that was illegally cut some years ago, is it? Gene Danielle forbade anyone from getting credit for the climb who used it.

Or perhaps a herd path has naturally arisen from all the peakbaggers over the years. When I was there in 2005, the herd path only ran between the false summit and the canister.

Lisa, Mount Nancy is an easy one. There’s a well-beaten trail to the top, no bushwhacking involved at all.

I agree, Nancy herd path is very easy to follow. Also very beautiful. When we were there two years ago there was still a sign saying the trail wasn't being maintained.

If you're adventurous, bring a bathing suit. My wife and I will be returning partly to swim in the pond there.

Just in case there is some confusion, The "double bubble Nubble trail" was cut in and marked up PATN about 15 years ago. Gene Danielle was very vociferous about his objections to the cutting a path on a trailless peak but I am not sure if he ever carried out his threat formally through the AMC 4 k committee. Unfortunately parts of the path followed the path of least resistance and thus it got used.

The "herd path" up Nancy is quite the piece of trail work. It appears to be tacitly a accepted route that is left in place barring attempts at making it formal. It is nice of the forest service to mark the beginning of the herd path with a sign.

Raymond said:

Or perhaps a herd path has naturally arisen from all the peakbaggers over the years. When I was there in 2005, the herd path only ran between the false summit and the canister.

Lisa, Mount Nancy is an easy one. There’s a well-beaten trail to the top, no bushwhacking involved at all.

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Thank you!!

Just an FYI, the sign on Nancy is now down but it is obvious where to go. There is a cairn there.

a long time ago I went up PATN with Arm (my first hike with him) via the slide......it was a very nice route

"The "double bubble Nubble trail" was cut in and marked up PATN about 15 years ago"

Does anyone have the approximate mileage for this route? I've read elsewhere it's four miles round trip, but Tom's post above seems to indicate otherwise.

When I rough it out on my topo program its less than one mile through the woods and about a mile from the gate off the north twin road so 4 miles round trip isn't far off. I did the old routes to the 100 highest trip years ago via Nubble mountain it was steep and thick in some spots and when we went down we encountered the Double Bubble Nubble as it followed the logical way down the mountain to the fire road.

peakbagger said:

When I rough it out on my topo program its less than one mile through the woods and about a mile from the gate off the north twin road so 4 miles round trip isn't far off. I did the old routes to the 100 highest trip years ago via Nubble mountain it was steep and thick in some spots and when we went down we encountered the Double Bubble Nubble as it followed the logical way down the mountain to the fire road.

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Excellent, thank you. I'm looking at this for an option for tomorrow. I know the Committee frowns upon the trail so I can't "officially" count this hike, but I'm more interested in the route than the peak.